Game board for solitaire



' Dec. 21, 1965 F. w. MOHL 3,224,780

GAME BOARD FOR SOLITAIRE Filed Jan. 4, 1962 FIG! 3- 4 L i i 2 2/ i? iv,lg Q Q,

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FRED W. HL

United States Patent 3,224,780 GAME BOARD FOR SOLITAIRE Fred W. Mohl,1580 N. Griggs St., St. Paul 13, Minn. Filed Jan. 4, 1962, Sex. No.164,308 1 Claim. (Cl. 273148) This invention relates to game boards, andmore particularly to a game board for playing solitaire with play- 1 ingcards.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a convenient andcompact sized game board for solitaire, the playing surface of which isdivided into uniform spaces surrounded by squared edges which serve asguides for the cards, with grooves in each of the spaces which serve asa means of convenient manipulation of the cards during play. It isdesigned to accommodate any of the various games of solitaire requiringspaces for parallel columns and rows of cards forming the tableau, andspaces for the foundations, usually consisting of the four aces as theybecome available in play from the tableau, and are built up in suit tokings.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a game board forsolitaire which may be held in the players lap, or may be used by aninvalid in a bed or wheel-chair.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a game board forsolitaire which may be used for pleasure and relaxation by travelersaboard air, surface and sea conveyances.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a game boardfor solitaire which will gratify the players aesthetic sense of beautyand geometric orderliness by keeping each column and foundation of cardsstraight and parallel, and prevent errors in play due to cards slipping,sliding and overlapping.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a game board for solitairebearing the above objects in mind which is of simple construction,minimum size, light weight, inexpensive to manufacture and efiicient inoperation.

For other objects and for a better understanding of the invention,reference may be had to the following detailed description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view in reduced scale of a game board made inaccordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a full scale broken longitudinal cross sectional view takenalong line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a full scale broken transverse cross sectional view takenalong line 3-3 of FIGURE 1 and FIGURE 4 is a full scale fragmentarycross sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIGURE 1.

Referring now in more detail to the drawing, it will be noted that theplaying surface of the game board has a contour consisting essentiallyof three elevations, numbered 1-3 on the drawing. During play the cardsrest upon elevation 1, and are restricted in their lateral position ormovement by the squared edges 4 joining elevation 1 with elevation 2.

Elevation 3 is the bottom of all of the grooves, which grooves provide aclearance between cards and bottom of grooves to admit the fingertipwhen picking up columns of cards. It is to be noted that these groovesare wide enough to permit flexing of a card resting upon elevation 1 byexerting a slight pressure with tip of finger, and thus pick up partialcolumns of cards Without disturbing those cards which are to remain inplace during play.

As will be noted by reference to the drawing, the board must bemaintained in an approximately horizontal position during play. If thegame is interrupted or tem- 3,224,780 Patented Dec. 21, 1965 porarilydiscontinued to be resumed at a later time, the board with layout ofcards in place can be leaned ver tically against any convenient objectby using either side edge of the board as a base.

The foundation areas located horizontally across top of the board inFIGURE 1 are provided with edges to insure vertical stacking of cardsplaced therein.

While one embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the abovereferenced drawings, it is to be understood 0 that they are only for thepurpose of illustration and that various changes in construct-ion may beresorted to in the course of manufacture in order that the invention maybe utilized to the best advantage according to circumstances which mayarise, without in any manner departing from the spirit and intention ofthe device, which is limited only in accordance with the appended claim.And while there is stated the primary field or utility of the invention,it remains obvious that it may be employed in any other capacity whereinit may be found to be applicable.

It is thought that persons skilled in the art to which this inventionrelates will be able to obtain a clear understanding of the inventionafter considering the specification in connection with the drawings.Therefore a more lengthy description of the operation and employment ofthis game board is regarded as unnecessary.

Certain technical terms peculiar to the art of solitaire have been usedin this specification in order to achieve clearity and brevity.Definitions of these terms are listed below for the convenient referenceof all who may be concerned:

LayoutThe total number of cards dealt to start the game, and includingthe foundation and the tableau.

Foundation-Certain cards which must be segregated at some stage of thegame, and built up with available cards. In any game using foundations,the objective is to build every foundation to the specified limit inorder to win the game. (In most games foundations start with the ace,and the objective is to build up in suit to the king.)

Tableau-The rest of the layout other than the foundations.

Column-A vertical line of cards extending away from the player.

RowA horizontal line of cards (with respect to the player).

Source of above definitions is the book Ways To Play Solitaire byAlphonse Moyse, Jr., endorsed by United States Playing Card Company, andcopyright 1950 by Whitman Publishing Company.

From the foregoing specification it will become apparent that theinvention disclosed will adequately accomplish the functions for whichit has been designed. Further, that it will place the relaxing andentertaining game of solitaire within a new sphere of comfort andconvenience hitherto unknown to its adherents. It will contribute newpleasures and comforts -to the invalid and the convalescent. It willspeed the miles for the traveler, and it will provide pleasures andbenefits for all who will use it.

I claim:

A game board for use with a deck of playing cards of predeterminedlength and width, the board comprising:

a generally rectangular flat body portion including along one edgethereof a series of four longitudinally aligned recesses, each of a sizeto accommodate a series of superposed cards,

a groove in said body portion extending from a point beyond an endrecess of the series of recesses to a point beyond the other end recessof the series,

a series of elongated side by side recesses arranged with theirlongitudinal axes at right angles to said series of recesses, said sideby side recesses being of a Width substantially equal to the width ofthe cards and of a length substantially greater than the length of thecards, and

said body portion including a groove extending from a point beyond anend of each of said side by side recesses, and adjacent to said alignedrecesses, to 2.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Halverson.

Hecker 273-450 Plummer et a1. 273-436 Ellingson 273149 Molinar 273148Booth 273-151 point spaced from the other end thereof a distance 10DELBERT LOWE, Primary Examine"- LEONARD W. VARNER, Examiner.

less than the length of the cards.

